#0 - April 28, 2008, 2:43 p.m.
In theory it almost sounded okay, and to be honest I didn't view it as too huge of a problem when they first announced it... PvE gear, but on par (for the most part) with the iLvL of the available PvP gear, extra healing/dps, but more damage taken in return, etc...
But all it has accomplished is create another dynamic to each arena match that has done nothing but diminish the overall quality of the competition in the tournament. Now when you encounter x/y/z classes, it's no longer time to quickly strategize in how to play the match and who to focus on, but to try and find out who is the one wearing the most PvE gear. Did the healer load up on full tier 5 and is running around with 100 resil, or is that rogue in 80 resil and about to tear you to shreds if you attempt to do anything but shut him down?
Now you can lose a match by simply overlooking how much PvE gear a certain person was wearing. As if "counter-comping" was not enough of an issue already, with the addition of this extra 'dynamic' to the competition, each match begins to focus less and less on overall strategy and execution, and more on finding the scissors to your rock. And what's worse is that gear can be quickly changed from one game to the next, so as I said above, you're constantly looking to see who is trying to sneak by in the least amount of resilience.
While you could argue that there is an even playing field with the same gear available to all players, I think most of the players that have experienced the top of the ladder recently will admit this has become a serious issue. PvE gear does nothing but further imbalance every possible matchup, where the team that played best doesn't necessarily come out on top.
Anyway, I don't mean for this to be a rant, I mean for it to be an honest and sincere request to remove PvE gear from the tournament. Simply delete all of the tier 5 and non-set raiding pieces from the servers, anyone who was using any of these items has the convenient option to take five steps to the nearest vendor and replace their now-missing pieces with new ones.
Every single class can be perfectly viable with the currently available PvP gear, the only thing that may need to be left behind is a proper cloak for healers, and some type of viable option for a 2nd ring (possibly the blue season 1 rings). I would also suggest removing all of the class-restricted trinkets, and leaving in just the Bloodlust Brooch, Essence of the Martyr, and Icon of the Silver Crescent.
I am mostly expecting a response saying "unfortunately this cannot be done for this tournament, maybe next time" or more likely, no response at all, but with all of the other issues plaguing arena, if Blizzard wishes to make this competition as balanced and successful as possible, taking this one step would go a long way.
